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TOPIC: DWP admit they shouldn't have taken me off IS

DWP admit they shouldn't have taken me off IS
7 years 11 months ago #21958

vintage59

-- avatar jph -->

March 2009 and DWP stopped my IS and put me on ESA, of course I then also failed my medical and had to live on £64 per week for 9 months while I appealed. My IS included a disability premium which I used, to help me pay for taxi's to the doctors and hospital visits,(I can't walk very well or very far, and I don't have a car).It also went towards the cost of having shopping and other stuff delivered. My DLA pays for someone to help me with chores and other things I can't do myself. Finding myself having to survive on £64 was a nightmare, I had to supply monthly sick notes but found it almost impossible to meet the cost of a taxi as a round trip was about £8 each time, the stress made my hair start to fall out and I developed stress related asthma! Unable to heat my home over winter I ended up with frostbite in some of my fingers as I have Reynalds disease on top of everything else, and at the beginning of the year I was ready to end it all. DWP then said they had made a mistake taking me off IS and that I had to reapply and I have had confirmation this week that my payments have been reinstated and I have also been sent a cheque for 3 missed cold weather payments. Someone behind a desk has your whole life in their hands, they don't know you, they don't know your problems, it's shocking. I just want to say to anyone who was taken off IS and it included a disability premium, and put onto ESA, get legal help if you haven't already, because what they did was illegal and they shouldn't have done it.

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Re:DWP admit they shouldn't have taken me off IS
7 years 10 months ago #22001

Hi Vintage59
I was stripped of IS August 2009 and put on ESA although I'm still waiting would you believe for the results of my ATOS medical which I had Oct 2009! I stopped being a carer in 2006 because I became too poorly to be a carer.I then had my DLA increased on review to HRM and HRC. I live alone and don't have a carer so I received the premium top-up on top of IS.I reached 60 in Dec 2009 so was then taken off ESA and received my state pension.Just before I celebrated my 60th I received a letter from DWP debt management telling me I owe them £11,000 because I shouldn't have been put on IS when I ceased to be a carer (they put me on IS instead of IB not me!)so I have of course appealed because at the end of the day it would appear that they have made an official error by paying the wrong benefit, had I been on IB the payments would have been roughly the same.I live alone and have no children or dependants.I appealed back in December asking them to change their decision. To date, I have heard nothing.As you can imagine it ruined my 60th celebrations and it made me so poorly I had to cancel the family get together I had planned.
So it's true that these people sitting at a desk have absolutely no idea the impact their wrong decisions (to put it mildly) have on disabled/sick people particularly when it is clearly official error on their part.
May I ask Vintage59 do you have young children as I believe DWP made errors by stopping some IS claims unlawfully and had to reinstate a lot of claims.
I only ask because your situation may be different to mine.
All the very best to you
Bella

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Re:DWP admit they shouldn't have taken me off IS
7 years 10 months ago #22062

vintage59

-- avatar jph -->

Hi Bella, No, I don't have young children anymore they are all adults now.
The mistake that the DWP made was taking people off IS who were also getting a disability premium included in their payment worth a little over £27 per week, as the law says, as a disabled person this is the money you need to live on, if you don't get this premium and only get the basic IS then you don't loose out when put onto ESA because both payments are the same! Disabled people have different needs, as I said in my original post, I can't do my own shopping so thats extra expense for a start paying to get it delivered, I can't make the beds, hoover, ironing or any job's where I have to stand so I pay someone to do it for me, a £100 per month.
I hope you have a good legal advisor to help you through your appeal which could take months (mine took 9 months but then I didn't need it in the end) and it's these months of worrying about it that made me really ill. From what you say in your post, i'm sure you have nothing to worry about and the appeal should go your way, but do some research yourself on the internet so you know what you are taking about when your appeal comes, and of course this is a wonderful site if you need information or just a good moan with people who understand, because they know what it is like to be disabled and are in the same financial situation. Good luck Bella

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